CITYMEALS ON WHEELS DELIVERS MORE THAN 25,000 HOLIDAY MEALS TO HOMEBOUND ELDERLY NEW YORKERS THIS CHRISTMAS

300 Volunteers Bring Nourishing Meals and Friendly Check-Ins to their Isolated, Older Neighbors

December 25, 2023 — This Christmas, Citymeals on Wheels prepared and delivered more than 25,000 holiday meals for homebound elderly New Yorkers, spreading holiday cheer and checking in with the city’s most vulnerable residents. Three hundred caring volunteers spent the morning packing and bringing those festive meals directly to the doors of their older neighbors in need across the city. 

“The holidays can be an especially hard time of year for older people living alone," said Citymeals on Wheels Chief Operating Officer Rachel Sherrow. “A knock on the door and a festive meal reminds our meal recipients that they aren’t forgotten today. Citymeals is a people-powered organization, and we rely on our volunteers and community partners to provide a lifeline of meals and connection for older New Yorkers every day of the year. We are seeing the holiday spirit in so many ways today.”

Citymeals serves nearly 22,000 older adults across the five boroughs at a time of growing food insecurity and hunger. Among those Citymeals serves:

• All recipients are over 60 and have chronic conditions such as vision loss, diabetes, arthritis and heart disease.
• More than half of recipients are over 80 years old; nearly 20% are over 90 years old, and over 400 have lived over a century.
• The majority of meal recipients live alone, 40% rarely or never leave their homes, and 8% have no one with whom they can talk on a regular basis other than their meal deliverer.
• 14% of recipients live on just the one meal a day Citymeals delivers.

Citymeals is the only organization focused on delivering nutritious meals to homebound older adults in all five boroughs and is the largest nonprofit meals on wheels program in the country. Over the past 42 years, Citymeals has delivered nearly 70 million meals.